


see me bare my teeth for you

by DetectiveJoan



Category: Fablehaven Series - Brandon Mull
Genre: Dubious Consent, F/F, Pre-Canon, date rape elements, i wrote femslash for the first time in forever merry christmas
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-25
Updated: 2016-12-25
Packaged: 2018-09-11 11:22:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,960
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8977600
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DetectiveJoan/pseuds/DetectiveJoan
Summary: Vanessa follows Elise to the club, in several variations.





	

**Author's Note:**

> For those of you who skimmed the tags, I'm going to repeat the **warning for dub-con and date rape elements**. Vanessa is not a good person, and this is not a wholesome story. 
> 
> Title from "Who Are You, Really?" by Mikky Ekko

i.

Vanessa follows Elise to the club, but waits a good twenty minutes in the parking lot before following her in. She keeps her leather jacket pulled over the knife on her hip while she hands the bouncer her license. She’s still young enough (and short enough) that he actually has to check the date on it before he lets her in, but that seems to preoccupy him from checking her for such an obviously inappropriate weapon.

(She isn't planning to  _use_ the knife for anything, but she'll be damned if she goes anywhere unprotected and her usual blowdarts aren't exactly well-suited to this environment.)

Inside, the music is just this side of blaring and the lights are dim. It’s a Friday night and the place is packed full. Vanessa moves around the edges of the crowd slowly, keeping her eyes peeled for Elise. She makes it halfway around the room before she finally spots her at the bar, chatting with a man Vanessa doesn’t recognize. As she watches, Elise laughs, leans forward and reaches out to touch the man’s arm. Not chatting, then. Flirting.

Vanessa decides to keep her distance. She orders a drink, claims a table at the edge of the dance floor with a decent view of the room, and settles in for a long bit of watching. If she’d hoped for an opportunity to get Elise alone, she’s disappointed; the man stays beside her for most of the night. They leave together, eventually, and technically Vanessa still has time to accost Elise in the parking lot; it would be easy enough to flag the couple down to ask for help, claiming her car won’t start or she needs change for the pay phone. Elise is the kind of person who would stop to help a damsel in distress. But Vanessa’s never been very good at playing distressed, so she just finishes her drink.

 

ii.

Vanessa follows Elise to the club, but waits twenty minutes before following her in. She keeps her leather jacket pulled over the knife on her hip while she hands the bouncer her license, and he lets her in without seeming to notice the weapon. (She isn't planning to use the knife for anything, of course, but you never know.)

Inside, the music is blaring, the lights are dim, and the crowd is big enough that it takes Vanessa a few minutes to find Elise. When Vanessa finally spots her, Elise is at the bar, flirting with some man Vanessa doesn’t recognize. She decides to keep her distance, orders a drink, and finds a table with a decent view.

It takes about ten minutes for Elise to notice her. It’s always a peculiar feelings, getting caught surveilling someone; Vanessa is watching Elise (fairly openly) and Elise is watching Vanessa right back (from the corner of her eye or in glances thrown over the man’s shoulder).

It’s another twenty minutes before Elise disentangles herself from the conversation with the man and slips into the crowd. It takes her a while to wind her way through the crowd to Vanessa’s table, and Vanessa could easily slip away in the interim but she stays put.

“Took you long enough,” Vanessa says warmly when Elise finally reaches her.

“Excuse me?” Elise is standing sort of stiffly, like she’s not sure whether or not Vanessa’s dangerous.

Vanessa curls her lips into a grin and easily replies, “I can’t believe you’ve kept me waiting here all this time, acting like you’re going to spend the night with that two-star boy.”

Vanessa watches Elise relax as she recognizes her as a flirt, not a threat. (She can’t be both?) “I’d say he’s at least a three,” she counters, resting her forearms on the table and leaning closer to Vanessa.

“Maybe. If you’re looking to be with a boy.”

“Oh, am I not looking to be with a boy?” Elise says, an edge of amusement in the question.

Vanessa shakes her head slightly and brings her glass to her lips. “I think you’re looking to be with me,” she replies before closing her eyes and taking a sip.

When she opens her eyes again, Elise is looking at her consideringly, but her lips are twitching in amusement. “Cocky,” she says.

“Confident,” Vanessa counters, leaning back in her chair and holding her chest out in a way that invites Elise to look. “Let me buy you a drink?”

 

iii.

Vanessa follows Elise to the club, but waits twenty minutes before following her in. When Vanessa finally finds her inside, Elise is leaning on the bar, alone, waiting to order her next drink.

“Oh, Elise! Hey!” Vanessa says, stepping up beside her as if it they’d just run into each other by happenstance.

Elise gives her a once over, eyes catching on the knife strapped to Vanessa’s hip. Vanessa can tell the woman doesn’t recognize her even before she speaks. “I’m sorry, do I know you?” she says politely.

Vanessa doesn’t let her soft smile waver. “Vanessa Santoro. We met briefly at Stony Vale.”

On that occasion, Elise had moodily described Stony Vale as “some fucking backwater tiny-ass preserve that the Knights have stranded me on for four goddamn months now” so it’s not a _happy_ memory, certainly, but the memory does spark. “Oh. You’re that biologist that came by with Warren,” Elise says.

“Magizoologist,” Vanessa corrects kindly. “Glad to see you made it out of Scotland.”

“Yeah, eventually,” Elise replies with a good-natured sigh. “What about you? You’re not on assignment around here, are you?”

“Can’t say,” she replies, and rolls her eyes like the Knights’ secrecy policy is the greatest burden in her life.

“I hear ya,” Elise says sympathetically, and then follows it up with, “Let me buy you a drink.”

 

iv.

Vanessa follows Elise to the club, but waits twenty minutes before following her in. When Vanessa finally finds her inside, Elise is leaning on the bar, alone, waiting to order her next drink.

“Oh, Elise! Hey!” she says, stepping up beside her.

Elise gives her a once over, eyes lingering first on the knife strapped her to hip, then to the deep V of her shirt collar. It takes a moment for the recognition to click, but after a pause she says, “Oh, hi. You’re Warren’s friend, right? The biologist?”

“Vanessa,” she says, sticking out her hand. She doesn’t correct her on the profession.

Elise shakes her head, shakes Vanessa’s hand. “Man, Stony Vale was more than two years ago. I can’t believe you remember my name.”

Vanessa smiles. “Yeah, well, Warren talked my ear off over you for a month afterwards.”

“Ridiculous boy,” Elise says, but she sounds pleased. “He’s not here with you, is he?”

“Nah, he’s been on assignment for a couple months. Somewhere in New York, I think,” Vanessa says, and it’s a lie. New York is the story he'd told her before he left for Fablehaven, and it’s the one she’ll keep telling until he returns with the artifact.

Elise rolls her eyes like the Knights’ secrecy policy is the greatest burden in her life. “Well, if you see him when he comes out of hiding, remind him he hasn’t spoken to me since Scotland and we have a lot of catching up to do.”

“I’ll pass it on,” Vanessa says. “How did you finally get off that preserve, anyways?”

“It’s a funny story,” Elise starts, but before she can continue, the bartender approaches and asks for their orders. She leans towards Vanessa. “Can I buy you a drink?”

 

v.

Vanessa follows Elise to the club, but waits twenty minutes before following her in. When Vanessa finds her inside, Elise is standing at the bar, alone. Vanessa steps up beside her and then turns, pressing her spine against the edge of the counter and leaning back on her elbows. It’s the sort of posture designed to emphasize her breasts, in conjunction with her low-cut shirt and the way her long hair hangs loosely over one shoulder. “Hey there,” she says.

“Hey,” Elise echoes. It’s an instinctually polite response at first, but then she gives Vanessa a harder look. Vanessa isn’t sure if her eyes linger on the knife strapped to her hip or the inch of bare skin between her jeans and the hem of her rucked-up shirt. Maybe both. She definitely lingers on the deep V of her collar. “Do I know you?” she asks, turning to more fully face her.

Vanessa mirrors the shift, bringing one hand up to comb through her hair as she offers a soft grin. “I think we actually met once. A couple years ago in Scotland?” she offers tentatively.

Recognition crosses her face. “Oh, right. You’re Warren’s friend.”

“Vanessa.”

“Elise.”

She laughs softly and there’s a pause between them before Vanessa asks, “So what’re you doing in a place like this?”

“Oh, well, I was hoping to find a cute girl to buy me a drink,” Elisa says without missing a beat. If Elise really were just the friend of a friend that Vanessa had happened to run into at a too-noisy club in a small college town, she’s pretty sure she would have actually fallen for that line.

“That’s funny,” she replies, and she doesn’t need to lean closer into Elise’s space, but she does anyway, “because I was looking for a cute girl to dance with. Think we could help each other out?”

Elise laughs again. “I think we could.”

 

vi.

Vanessa follows Elise to the club, but waits twenty minutes before following her in. When Vanessa finds her inside, Elise is standing at the bar. Vanessa steps up beside her and turns, lounging back against the counter. “Hey there,” she says.

“Hey,” Elise echoes. It’s an instinctually polite response, but then she lets her eyes sweep over Vanessa, lingering on her bare hips, the curve of her breasts. She turns to face her more fully. “Do I know you?”

Vanessa combs one hand through her hair, letting it fall loosely over the counter behind her as she slides another inch closer to the other woman. “Do you want to?” she says with a bit of a smirk.

Elise actually laughs, but doesn’t turn away. “Not very original,” she critiques. “You’re lucky you’re hot.”

“But I am hot,” Vanessa counters. “Buy me a drink?”

“Yeah, alright,” Elise says, and flags down the bartender.  

 

vii.

However it starts, it continues like this: they chat, they drink, they dance.

 

Or, no. They chat. Just for a few moments, but the conversation isn’t really going anywhere, and Elise very obviously keeps an eye on the man Vanessa doesn’t recognize. Vanessa could force it, be a bit more aggressive in her pursuit, but if all Elise remembers of her is that pushiness, she’ll never get another chance. So she lets their back-and-forth taper off into a short, slightly awkward silence. With a soft touch on Elise’s elbow, she offers, “Well, it was nice speaking with you.” They exchange smiles and then Vanessa turns and disappears into the crowd.

She’ll have to try again another night.

 

Or, no. They chat, they drink. Vanessa slips a few drops of sleeping potion in Elise’s glass when she’s not looking and a few moments later Elise slumps forward and Vanessa catches her easily. Out cold.

Vanessa hoists the woman into her arms and carries her out the door. The bouncer eyes them as she exits and makes like he’s going to stop her. She circumvents his intervention with a roll of her eyes.

“Can you believe it? It’s her birthday,” she says, curling her arms up a bit more so Elise’s head lolls towards her, crashing into her shoulder. “First time out -- and she had way too much, of course.”

It’s too early in the night for anyone to be quite that drunk, and Elise is a few years older than this story would suggest, but the man lets down his guard. “You need any help with her?” he asks.

It’s a kind offer and a human woman probably would have taken him up on it, but Vanessa’s supernatural strength makes Elise’s weight a nonissue. “Nah, we parked pretty close. I’m just gonna get her over to the car and drive her home.”

And that’s almost exactly what she does.

 

Or, no. They chat, they drink, they dance. Elise protests that she can’t dance to save her life, but Vanessa takes her by the hand and pulls her toward the dance floor. It’s crowded and hot, too many people pressed close all around them. Vanessa turns back to face her and ropes her arms around Elise’s neck, pulling her close. It’s hard to tell in the strobing lights, but Elise might be blushing slightly.

Vanessa keeps her that close for a few songs, and very significantly doesn’t keep her hands to herself. Elise was truthful in her claims that she couldn’t dance, but this sort of dancing requires less rhythm and coordination than a simple willingness for physical intimacy. Still, she eventually begs her way out of the crowd, dragging Vanessa to a quieter corner of the club.

“You weren’t kidding about your dancing skills,” Vanessa says. She’s grinning, and it feels sharp even to her.

Elise apparently doesn’t notice. She backs herself up against a wall, still holding Vanessa’s hand, and pulls the other woman closer. “I’m more skilled in other areas,” she says.

“Like what?”

Elise cups Vanessa’s head with her free hand and pulls her into a kiss. It’s hard and hot, pushing for more even as Vanessa takes the last step forward and presses Elise firmly against the wall. Vanessa’s hands have found their way into Elise’s pockets by the time she pulls away. “Like that.”

“Useful skill to have,” Vanessa says, a little breathlessly.

Elise takes her home. Or, she makes Vanessa drive them back to Elise’s apartment after she catches a look at Vanessa’s car.

“You make this kind of money as a zoologist?” she says, running her fingers softly along the hood. She’s practically drooling.

“I breed some endangered species; it pays surprisingly well,” Vanessa says, vaguely. “This isn't exactly a practical car for my line of work, but it’s a bit of a chick magnet.”

“That’s an understatement.”

At the apartment, Vanessa sheds her jacket and lingers in the living room while Elise bangs around all the rooms, double-checking that her roommates haven’t come home unexpectedly. When Elise returns, Vanessa is turned away from her, holding a framed picture she found on an end table. Elise steps up behind her, gently brushing Vanessa’s hair to one side and then pressing a kiss to the side of her bare neck. “Looks like we’re alone,” she says.

Vanessa doesn’t respond to this; it’s hardly new information. She wouldn’t have come out tonight if her reconnaissance hadn’t turned up that the roommates were planning to be out of town for the weekend; she’d even followed them to the airport that morning and watched them board their plane, just to be sure. Instead, she lifts the photograph. It’s a class picture of thirty or so sixth graders. “You’re a teacher?” she asks.

“Not really. I put on self-defense classes for these kids at a local elementary school last spring,” Elise replies. She rests her chin on Vanessa’s shoulder. “I’m studying child development at school, with a focus on trauma survival. It’s psychology, mostly, but also some practical stuff like that. Keeping kids safe, you know?”

“Sounds like a bleak field,” Vanessa says, setting the photograph down.

Elise sighs. “It’s not exactly fun,” she admits. “But I can’t know kids are getting hurt and not do anything about it.”

Vanessa turns around to face her, loosely wrapping her arms around Elise’s waist. “Anyone ever tell you that you have a bit of a hero complex?” she teases, nipping a short kiss from Elise's lips. 

“I think Warren mentioned it once,” Elise admits.

“Warren has one too.”

“Must be why we’re such good friends.”

Vanessa likes Warren, really. Sure, he has a terrible habit of putting himself in harm’s way to protect others, but selflessness isn’t the worst character flaw she’s ever encountered. She’s been working with him for nearly as long as she’s been a Knight -- he comes from one of the secret preserves, after all, and having an in at Fablehaven will surely be a key step towards opening Zzyzx. But she’s spent years working with him on smaller missions, ones where she’s had no alternative motive other than building up his trust in her. And those missions have been...nice, actually. Warren’s friendly and funny, he can handle himself in a fight, and he understands enough basic magizoology to hold a semi-intelligent conversation about her work. If she were to regret anything about her years of deception, it would be that Warren had to get mixed up in it all.

Vanessa likes Elise well enough, too. All Vanessa’s research seems to point to her as highly competent and capable, even if she spent most of her life outside of the Knights in the non-magical world. She’s kind, careful, clever. Frankly, in another world -- one in which Vanessa were human, perhaps, or one in which Elise were not -- they could have genuinely been friends.

Hours later, after Elise has fallen asleep beside her, Vanessa brushes this thought out of her mind. She’s a deeply practical woman, and there’s really no benefit to dwelling on such absurd hypotheticals. The reality is that if Warren decides to call in reinforcements in his search for Fablehaven’s artifact, Elise will almost certainly be his first choice. If Vanessa isn’t invited onto the preserve, she’ll at least have control of the woman who is.

She sinks her fangs into Elise's neck without hesitation.

**Author's Note:**

> This writing style borrowed heavily from Quigonejinn's Stucky fic [Flesh Seven Ways](http://archiveofourown.org/works/387144), which you should definitely read


End file.
